Just Passing Through
by Flower in the River
Summary: Roy, Ed and Riza get trapped in a transmutation circle that forces them in front of the Gate...and through it. Post-manga, Prisoner of Azkaban.
1. Initium

**Despite my wishes, neither the genius of FMA nor the wonder of HP came from my twisted little mind.**

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><p>"<em>My, my. What have we here?"<em>

Roy and Ed both flinched, Roy shoving Riza behind him while Ed stepped forward with a feral snarl.

"Truth, you bastard. Why are we here? We didn't open the Gate!"

"_No, but someone did. Someone who wants all three of you dead. Roy Mustang, fuher candidate, Riza Hawkeye, his loyal bodyguard, and Edward Elric, the one who would make the biggest fuss if both went missing. They planned it well."_

"You're not taking _anything _from the lieutenant," Roy hissed, still standing between Truth and Riza.

"_Take?" _Truth raised a non-existent eyebrow. _"Oh, I'm not taking anything this time, Alchemists. It isn't human transmutation that brings you here today. You're not wanted to bring someone back, you're wanted to disappear."_

"Disappear?"

"_Yup. You're going _through _the Gate today."_

"You can't do that!" Ed shouted.

"_Oh I can, Mr. Al-che-mi-st. However, I can't just send you out the way you are. Equivalent Exchange, yes?"_

"You're going to _give _us things?" Ed asked, incredulous.

"_Not much, but enough. I'll give you the language to get by." _A pause. _"That's still not equivalent, is it? Very well. Mr. Alchemist, I return your alchemy to you."_

Ed froze, the oddest sensation in his body. He clapped, and he saw the familiar blue lightning of a transmutation as his hair tie changed shape and form.

"_As for you two…" _Truth looked at Roy and Riza. _"Ah, all I need to give you two is a bit of information."_

The Gate swung open, and those little black hands that were familiar to two of the three reach out and grabbed them. The last thing they heard before they closed was Truth calling out to them.

"_There will be no fraternization laws binding you in that world."_

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><p><strong>Sorry about the length, but this is just the prologue. The real chapters will be longer, promise!<strong>

**So here's my first multi-chap crossover...and of course, it'll have some Royai in it. Frankly, I have no idea where I'm going with this...but it'll all work out! Maybe...*sweatdrop***

**Please review!**


	2. Nescius

**I own my stomach, stuffed with turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and pie, not FMA or HP. Happy Thanksgiving!**

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><p>"Harry! Harry! Are you all right?"<p>

"W—what?" Harry blinked awake, looking up into the concerned faces of Ron and Hermione. Professor Lupin and Neville stood nearby, worry on their faces as well. Ron and Hermione helped him back into his seat, Harry still feeling quite shaky.

"Are you okay?" Ron asked, looking nervous.

"Yeah," Harry replied. He was about to ask what that _thing _was when they heard a man shouting from the next compartment down. Professor Lupin immediately stood up and rushed toward the sound. The trio looked at each other and, after Harry's nod confirmed that he was okay, followed.

In the next compartment, a pale man with coal-black hair crouched on the ground, his fingers outstretched like he was about to snap for some bizarre reason and a look of panic on his face.

"_Oh…"_ he mumbled, looking around and slowly lowering his fingers. _"Kore wa Ishval ja nai…"_ His eyes fell on the unconscious blond woman slumped on one of the seats, and, on the seat across from her, a small blond boy was in the same condition.

"_Chuui!" _he shouted, panic in his voice as he rushed over to the woman. _"Hagane no!" _he added, seeing the boy. It was almost comical the way his head darted between the two, unsure of what to do, though his arms remained around the woman.

"Excuse me," Professor Lupin said, clearing his throat. The man whirled around. "I'm Professor Lupin, I might be able to help. Who are you, might I ask?"

"Professor Mustang," the man replied. His accent was faint, but odd. It wasn't one that either of the three recognized. "Do you know what's happened to Hawkeye and Edward?"

"Did this happen after the dementors came?" Lupin asked, bending to check the pulses of the two. Harry noticed that the man's—Professor Mustang's arms never dropped their protective embrace.

He stared at Professor Lupin blankly, so the latter elaborated.

"The large hooded creature that came in here." Professor Mustang's eyes widened in recognition and a little fear as he nodded.

"Will they be all right?"

"I believe so." Lupin turned to the man "Are _you _all right?"

"Fine," he replied, not looking away from the woman. He didn't look fine. He was extremely pale, his hands were shaking, and he seemed to be covered in a cold sweat.

In short, he looked how Harry felt.

"Well, have some chocolate," Lupin said finally, holding out a slab to the man. "We'll be heading back to our compartment. Call if you need anything."

At the word "we," the man's head jerked up, as if he hadn't noticed others there. His eyes raked each of their faces, and he certainly saw Harry's scar but, surprisingly, didn't comment.

The next time Harry saw them was just a glimpse of the woman and boy being levitated up to the castle, still unconscious.

oOoOoOoOo

Harry groaned to himself as he walked through the halls. He could have been down there enjoying the feast and watching the Sorting, but McGonagall had ordered him to go down to the hospital wing to see Madame Pomfrey. He could hear the rumors now, and could imagine what Malfoy was going to have to say about it.

He paused a few feet outside of the wing. _Raised voices? _ Making his steps as quiet as possible, he snuck up and pressed his ear against the large doors. In a moment, he heard Madame Pomfrey's upset voice.

"Professor Mustang, I am a Healer! I need to examine him!"

"I'm telling you, you can't touch him right now." Replied the deep voice he recognized to be the black-haired professor.

"Professor, I've been informed of Mr. Hawkeye's …condition. I assure you I know what I'm doing—"

"I don't doubt your abilities, simply your ability to function with your head kicked off!" hissed Mustang irritably. "You have no idea how much power Ed has. If he wakes up with someone touching him, he is going to _attack. _For your own safety, Madame, wait until he's awake and calm!"

Harry sneezed, and the room suddenly went quiet. Knowing he'd been found, he pushed open the door and stepped inside.

"Madame Pomfrey, Professor McGonagall sent me here."

"Of course, Mr. Potter!" she said immediately, rushing over. Again, Harry was surprised by the lack of reaction he got from Professor Mustang. He was sitting on a chair between two beds, both of them occupied, one by the woman and the other by the boy. Harry took the chance to take a good look at both of them, while Madame Pomfry fussed and tutted about letting dementors come near children.

The boy looked somewhat older than Harry, and very muscular. He had long blond hair in a ponytail, and was wearing a black long-sleeved jacket and black pants, with a bright red coat. His teeth and fists were clenched, like someone in the middle of a nightmare.

The woman was older, around Professor Mustang's age. Her hair was short, cut in a masculine style, and less golden than the boy's hair. She was no longer wearing wizarding robes, but a black turtleneck over brown pants. She looked fearful, and shook slightly. As Harry watched, she curled onto her side and began to whisper.

"_Iie…otou-sama, yamete…yamete kurasai…" _

"_Chuui," _Mustang had left his seat the moment the woman moved, and was kneeling next to her, speaking both urgently and gently. _"Daijobu, daijobu. Arimasen. Arimasen."_

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><p><strong>Well, there's the first real chapter! The Golden Trio's met Ed...just not while Ed's conscious xD. For those of you wondering, the stuff in italics is Amestrian. It'll either be in italics or marked like this/. All the Amestrian in this chapter is based off Japanese, though that might change later.**

**Kore wa Ishval ja nai=This isn't Ishval**

**Chuui=Lieutenant **

**Hagane no=Fullmetal**

**Iie=No**

**Otou-sama=Father**

**Yamete/Yamete Kurasai=Stop/Please stop**

**Daijobu=It's okay**

**Arimasen=Not here (as in, 'he's not here')**

**Now that that's out of the way...yay reviewers! Thanks to _FullMetalWizardNerd7, TheCrimsonGhost309, Dreamless-Sleep777 _and _Tubby _for reviewing.  
>Tubby-...I suppose that's one way to interpret it xD.<strong>

**Please review! Pretty please! **


	3. Cautus

**If Santa comes through, I won't have to say this after tomorrow...but as of now I own neither FMA nor HP.**

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><p>Professor Mustang stood over the trembling woman, shaking her slightly and whispering words in a foreign language that were meant to be comforting, but the effect was lost in the shaking tone of his voice. Madam Pomfrey rushed over as well, Harry completely forgotten.<p>

After a few minutes, however, even level-headed Madam Pomfrey looked worried. The woman still hadn't stopped her frightened whispers, despite the combined effort of Professor Mustang (What did he teach, anyway?) and the nurse herself. Madam Pomfrey was making a move towards her wand when the professor let go of the woman and took a step back from the bed, taking a military posture.

Harry couldn't understand a word he said, but it was very obviously an order. To his surprise, the woman sat upright, her amber colored eyes darting around the room in panic before focusing and becoming much more sharp and analytical.

"Professor Hawkeye? How do you feel?"

"I'm fine," the woman replied, reaching for her cloak lying on a nearby chair. "I'm sorry to inconvenience you."

"No you don't," said Madam Pomfrey as the woman made to get up. "You're going to have to stay here overnight, I'm afraid."

"I couldn't—"

"Yes, you can." She was all but pushed back into bed by Madam Pomfrey, who bustled off, presumably to get chocolate.

"Oh, Potter," she added, sticking her head back in the room. "If you're positive you're all right, you can go down to the Great Hall now."

Harry got up immediately, heading for the door.

The gold-haired boy was still unmoving on the bed, sweat beading on his forehead.

oOoOoOoOo

"_There _you two are!" muttered Ron as Harry and Hermione, who had entered the Hall around the same time as Harry, sat on either side of him. "You've missed the sorting, what took you so long?"

Harry opened his mouth to explain, but stopped as Dumbledore stood to give the traditional start-of-term speech, making a mental note to tell his friends everything later.

oOoOoOoOo

"So, what's up?" Ron asked once the common room was mostly empty. "Hermione, why'd McGonagall want to see you, anyway?"

"Oh, just something to do with my schedule," she replied, waving him off. "Harry, are you all right?"

"Fine," he said quickly. "But listen, I saw those guys from the train…"

He quickly summarized what had happened in the hospital wing, including the parts he'd overheard.

"He said that the kid would _kill _Madam Pomfrey?"

"It's a figure of speech, Ronald," Hermioned pointed out sharply.

"I don' t know…" Harry said uncertainly. "He sounded dead serious."

"Even if it was just a figure of speech, it's a weird one to use in that situation," Ron pointed out. "Wouldn't you say that the guy would get scared to death?"

"It is strange," Hermione consented, her brow furrowed. "Especially given the circumstances."

"Huh?"

"_Honestly, _Ron," Hermione huffed, exasperation in her tone. "Sirius Black is looking for Harry, there's all this new security, and three new teachers come to Hogwarts, when there aren't even vacancies for them. Dumbledore didn't mention anything about them at the feast, either."

"But they're _professors, _Hermione." Ron pointed out. To Hermione, it was close to blasphemy to speak ill of a professor.

"Yes, but…" she looked up. "I'd just be careful if I were you, Harry."

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><p><strong>Oh my gosh, this got a much bigger reaction than I expected! Thank you, thank you, thank you to all my reviewers, especially <em> Caffeinated Star <em>and _epobbp _for critiquing what little of the story's been posted.**

**That being said, I really have no excuse for why it took this chapter so long to be posted, other than life getting in the way and flinging many, many lemons in my face, leaving me without much writing inspiration. I'll do my very best to get the next one up faster, though no promises...**

**Please review! Happy holidays, everybody!**


	4. Rudis

**Harry Potter and Fullmetal Alchemist belong to the geniuses J.K. Rowling and Hiromu Arakawa-sensei, respectively. Bow to their amazingness!**

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><p>"Mr. Hawkeye, you <em>cannot <em>spar with the suits of armor!" Ed, who had been listening to McGonagall's scolding for the past few minutes, rolled his eyes.

"In addition to it being _completely _inappropriate, you could hurt other students and—"

"Yeah, yeah, I won't do it again, can I go now?"

McGonagall, who was preparing another lecture on respect, was cut off again by the appearance of a black-haired man.

"I'm so sorry about him, Professor," Mustang said quickly, flashing her a winning smile. "He's just a little, well, anxious, being in a new country and all. I'm sure you can understand, he was simply trying to vent a little excess energy."

"If you weren't so bad at sparring, you bastard…" Ed found a hand clamped firmly over his mouth while Roy continued apologizing.

"…how he has so much energy in such a _small _body, I have no idea…"

"MMMF MMF MMMF?" ("WHAT WAS THAT?")

"Sir." Roy's grin faltered slightly as Riza appeared suddenly behind him, disapproval in her amber eyes. "Good morning, Professor McGonagall," she added, turning to the still-affronted teacher. "I apologize on the behalf of my…son," she continued, her hesitation barely noticeable.

"Yes, well, I'll have to ask you to keep a better eye on him in the future," replied McGonagall sourly, before turning to leave. "I'll see you at breakfast, Professors."

The minute she was out of earshot, Roy let out a huge groan.

"God, _Hagane no, _could you start on a _worse _note?"

"Shut up, Colonel Bastard. You didn't have to try and suffocate me!"

"I was trying to stop you from causing anymore damage with your mouth that's too large for your body!"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL THAT HE COULD RIDE PIGGYBACK ON A FLEA, YOU COLOSSUS!"

"I said nothing of the sort, pipsqueak."

"WHY YOU!"

"If we don't hurry, we'll be late for the breakfast," Riza said, walking between the two and cutting off the pending confrontation. "Headmaster Dumbledore is going to introduce us then, remember?"

"Fine," Ed grumbled, though he muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "all that bastard's fault."

"Hawkeye," Roy said as she made to take a step back.

"Sir?"

"You don't have to walk a step behind me, you know."

"But…"

"I'm not your superior here." She hesitated. "Please."

"…Yes, sir."

Ed looked to the side and pretended he didn't notice.

oOoOoOoOo

Harry, Ron and Hermione walked into the Great Hall for breakfast, Harry doing his best to ignore Malfoy's impression of him fainting.

"Wonder why we all have to be here," Ron grumbled, reaching for some bacon and toast. "I could've gotten a bit more sleep…"

"Honestly Ronald, you can't miss breakfast on the first day of classes!" Hermione scolded. "This way we have some time to look over our schedules as well!"

"It should be illegal to be that excited for classes to start," Ron muttered before nearly dozing off, almost landing face-down in his scrambled eggs.

Hermione's retort was cut off by Dumbledore's entrance into the Great Hall. Whispers filled the Great Hall-Dumbledore never gave announcements this early.

"Good morning to you all!" He said brightly. "I hope your minds are not too tangled in the web that is sleep, for I have an announcement for you all! Due to circumstances beyond even my control, I was unable to introduce them last night. However, now I am pleased to introduce three new members to our teaching staff. Please welcome Professors Mustang and Hawkeye and Mr. Hawkeye!"

"Oy," Ron muttered, staring at the table. "It's the guys from the train!"

So it was. The man and woman were standing, both in traditional wizarding robes. The boy, however, was leaning back in his chair, offering only a lazy wave of his hand.

"They will be teaching a new class, offered to third years and up. The sign-up sheets will be in your common rooms. And on that note, enjoy your breakfasts!"

"A new class!" Hermione whispered excitedly as everyone turned back to their food. "I wonder what it'll be on!"

"How many classes are you planning on taking, Hermione?" Ron asked skeptically. "I mean, blimey, you've got three classes scheduled for nine today!"

"I've already worked it out with Professor McGonagall," replied Hermione airily, tucking her schedule into her pocket. "I'm sure one more won't be a big deal."

"Weren't you the one suspecting them earlier, Hermione?" Harry pointed out. "Why are you so eager to learn from them now?"

"Well…" She trailed off, looking conflicted. "They can't do much now, can they? Not with Dumbledore and all the other teachers around, plus there's dementors around the boundaries. You saw what happened to them with the dementors, Harry. Plus, it's a brand new subject…"

"She's right, you know," Ron added. "I mean, they can't do much right under Dumbledore's nose, can they?"

"Quirrell did," Harry pointed out darkly.

oOoOoOoOo

If Edward Elric wasn't antagonistic, he might have thought that he had died and gone to heaven.

Books.

Everywhere.

The largest collection he'd ever seen.

He might get used to this Hogwarts place after all.

"Okay," he muttered to himself. "If this place doesn't have stuff on how to get home, nowhere will."

He reach for a thick book entitled _Magick Theories from Across the Globe _and began reading, oblivious to Madame Pince's suspicious glares. It wasn't until three hours later that she got a reaction out of him at all.

"You, boy," she snapped, waving her feather duster at him. "Are you going to stay here all day?"

"Hm? Yeah, I guess," he replied absent-mindedly, not even looking up from his copy of _Hogwarts: A History. _

An hour later, she was back, peering over his shoulder.

"You'd better put those back properly!"

"Already did," Ed replied, turning a page in _Transfiguration for the Somewhat Potentially Competent. _

Three hours later, Roy physically dragged Ed from the library so they could prepare for the next day's classes, barely stopping long enough for him to check out _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them._

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><p><strong>I...I'm so sorry...I really have no excuse...I hope this less serious chapter makes up for the horribly long wait! I've gotten lots of requests for longer chapters, which I'm trying to do, but long chapters and I aren't really friends...I'll do my best!<strong>

**I honestly wasn't expecting the huge response I got for this fic. You are all amazing! Please, please review, even if it's to curse me for making you wait so long~!**


	5. Primum Die

***Sigh* If only I owned FMA or HP...**

**This chapter's a bit longer. I'm proud of myself xD**

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><p>The classroom was full the next morning, with chattering students from every house crammed inside. Ravenclaws, naturally, were the majority; You-Know-Who himself couldn't drag them away from new knowledge (Incidentally, Hermione was also in this category). A few Hufflepuffs sat in the corner, chattering amongst themselves, and Draco lounged in the opposite corner with Crabbe and Goyle.<p>

Harry, Ron and Hermione sat at a table, with, surprisingly, Fred and George.

"What are you doing here?" Ron asked when they sat down.

"Aww, Ronnikins-"

"You'd think you didn't want us here."

"But as representatives of the school-"

"It's our job-"

"To help the new professors get acquainted with the school." They finished together, grinning.

"They're the only teachers that you haven't tried your pranks on," Hermione translated, not looking up from her book.

"Well, it's certainly a plus," Fred said, leaning back in his seat. "I figure we'll let them have the first day easy, then really get 'em, eh, Georgie?"

"They won't know what hit them," George agreed, mimicking his brother's pose.

"What are you reading, Hermione?" Harry asked quickly, diverting a potential rant on Hermione's part.

"It's a book on alchemy I found in Flourish and Blotts," she said quickly. "I was hoping it might help some with this class, since we weren't assigned any textbooks."

"Trying to be a favorite in this class too, Granger?" Draco spoke up from the back of the room. "It's no use this time."

"What do you mean by that, Malfoy?" Ron asked, glaring.

"Didn't you see the little one's _eyes?" _Draco spoke as if he were talking to small, dumb children. "That's an ancient trait, said to only be in the Hohenheim bloodline. The oldest wizarding bloodline, Weasley, Merlin, don't you know _anything?" _ he added, seeing Ron's confused look. "Obviously, they'll want to associate with higher wizards, not blood-traitors and mudbloods."

"Why you—"

At that moment, the door swung open, and in strode the three teachers. Ron sat quickly, though Draco's smirk was hard to ignore.

"I am Professor Roy Mustang," said the black-haired professor, standing at the front of the classroom with the other two standing next to him. "This is Professor Hawkeye and her son, Edward. They will both assist me in teaching this class."

The woman nodded, reminding most of the class of Professor McGonagall. Edward, however, had slouched into a chair and barely acknowledged them. Harry wondered if that was normal, since neither professor commented and instead moved on with the lesson.

"Alchemy in its purest form," Mustang began, turning over a chalkboard, revealing the words _Equivalent Exchange _written in elegant script, "Is based entirely off this principle. In order to gain something, something of equal value must be lost. There is no way around this principle."

Hermione's hand shot up, and he nodded at her.

"Sir," she said, her voice hushed with surprise. "Are we going to learn _alchemy?" _

"But it's a dead art!" piped up a Ravenclaw from the back of the room. "It died with Nicolas Flamel!"

"Yes and no," Mustang said, seeming to choose his words carefully. "We have sources, other than Flamel, that provide adequate information on alchemy, so we are able to teach it."

"Will we be able to perform it?" the same Ravenclaw asked.

"No." This time it was the boy, Edward, who answered. "You've spent so much time relying on those wands to focus your energy that without it, your energy would go haywire, even with a transmutation circle."

"While what Edward says is true," Mustang continued, shooting Edward a glare, "Those who show an exceptional amount of control may be able to attempt simple transmutations at the end of the year. Now, back to the lesson. The three stages of alchemy are…"

And so went the lesson, with everyone frantically writing down notes on comprehension, deconstruction, reconstruction and something called "elements." Five minutes from the end of class, the lecture stopped abruptly.

"And now, Edward will tell you your homework," said Mustang, sitting down behind his desk.

"Right," said Edward, standing up. "One is all, all is one."

The class was silent. A riddle?

"All you have to do is tell me what that means. You have one month. Oh," he added, a wicked grin spreading on his face. "Those of you who can't do this will be no longer allowed to take this class."

Hermione looked as though she'd just been struck in the face. A few Ravenclaws shouted in outrage, and Draco looked extremely indignant that he might be kicked out of a class.

"You do get one hint, though."

The class held its breath.

"Death. Class dismissed."

oOoOoOoOo

Harry frowned, walking aimlessly through the library. Everyone he knew was at Hogsmeade, having the time of their lives, and he was stuck here, trying to find something to read.

Hermione was getting to him. She'd been practically living in the library lately, trying desperately to find information on the alchemy homework. Ron had insisted on taking her to Hogsmeade so she didn't have a nervous breakdown.

Harry turned a corner and blinked. Speak of the devil.

Edward sat, his back to Harry, reading a large book.

"Er, Professor?"

He turned a page.

"Professor?"

He turned another page.

"Professor Hawkeye?"

He closed the book and looked around, as if trying to figure out if he'd actually heard something or not. His eyes landed on Harry.

"What?"

"Er, I just had a question about the homework, Professor."

"Don't call me that," Edward said quickly, putting the book back on the shelf. "Titles are a pain. I'm Ed."

"Right," Harry said quickly. "But, er, Ed, the homework's really giving a lot of people trouble."

Ed nodded. "It took me weeks. I could've made it easier, but Dumbledore wouldn't let me abandon you on islands."

"Er…right," said Harry, unsure of how to respond. "But is there any way you could…give a hint or something…?"

Ed put down the book he was holding, and turned to look Harry in the eye. Harry never realized how gold they were before.

"Harry, have you ever been in a situation where you were about to die?"

Harry blinked. That wasn't a question one generally asked a thirteen year old. He thought back, to Quirrell in his first year, and fighting Tom Riddle just last year. The way everything had spun, and it had been hard to open his eyes, and the burn of the basilisk venom.

"Yeah," he said, swallowing. "Yeah, I have." Ed nodded, not at all surprised.

"Did you think about what would happen if you did?"

Harry paused. He hadn't. He'd just accepted it…but Ginny would have died, Ron and Hermione would be sad…

"Think about it." Ed stood, pulling another book down from the shelf. "That's how I got the answer, anyway." He looked at Harry closely. "Hey, why aren't you at Pigbeer or wherever?"

"Erm…Hogsmeade?"

"Whatever."

"I couldn't go. My uncle wouldn't sign the permission slip."

Ed snorted, grabbing several book and wandering off to a different part of the library, muttering something about "bastard even got Hawkeye to go with him."

oOoOoOoOo

Riza sat awkwardly in the Three Broomsticks, waiting for Roy to come back with the "butterbeer" they sold there. She couldn't help looking over her shoulder, worried that someone would see them, and in an instant their ranks would be stripped, they would be discharged, and his dream would be shattered forever.

"What are you looking at?"

She turned, seeing Roy standing there with his signature smirk and holding two glasses of a foaming yellow liquid.

"Nothing," she lied, taking the glass he offered. She took a sip, finding the bubbly sweetness delicious.

"You've always had a sweet tooth, haven't you?" Roy asked, smiling, as he reach out to wipe the foam off her upper lip.

She froze, her eyes darting around franticly, looking for watching eyes. Roy knew what she was thinking, his smirk softening into a gentle smile as he stood and walked around the table, sitting next to her in the booth.

"Riza," he said gently, taking one of her hands, callused from holding guns, in his scarred, barely-functional ones. "It's okay here. I promise. It's okay here."

She slowly reach out a shaking hand, touching his cheek.

"It is," she whispered, almost in wonder, as a single tear ran down her cheek. "It is, isn't it?"

They sat, in a booth in the back of the Three Broomsticks, both crying and reveling in the simple fact that, after all these years, they could _hold _each other, and touch, not because she was dying, or he was blind, but simply because they wanted to.

There they stayed for a long, long time.

oOoOoOoOo

Ed stood up, stretching. When were Hawkeye and the Bastard coming back? It'd been hours, and he needed to do _something _other than read, or he'd get his ass handed to him by Al when he got home.

If he got home.

He shook himself, tossing the book onto a pile. _There's some big forest out there. Maybe I'll spar there. _

He dashed out of the library before Madame Pince's enraged shriek reach his ears, sprinting to the forest.

_Well this is…gross, _he thought, unable to think of a better word. Moss and spiderwebs were everywhere, and he'd heard the sound of several unidentifiable animals already.

Creepy.

Finally, he'd found a clearing that it didn't look like anything had died in, and he ran through several basic stances, wishing he had a sparring partner. Maybe he'd try those suits of armor again when that McGonagall wasn't looking.

A squawk broke him out of his thoughts, and he slid easily into a defensive stance, looking for the source of the sound. There was another squawk, and a small creature stumbled into the clearing.

"Creature" was the best term he could think of to describe it. It looked like a foal, with barely any hair and pupil-less eyes. It squawked again, opening the small beak like thing that was its mouth wider than it should have been able to, and spreading it's wings—

_Wings?_

Two tiny bat-like wings extended from its back, flapping feebly. _A chimera? _Ed wondered, taking a cautious step toward it. It didn't seem to be in any pain though, and it was only a baby.

"What are you?" he asked as it stumbled forward. "Where's your mother?"

_Maybe its mom is dead. _

Ed sighed as the little creature nuzzled his hand (his right hand, he noticed).

"What am I gonna do with you?"

oOoOoOoOo

"_Who are you? Where am I?" _

"_I am what you might call God. Or the World. Or One. Or All. And, of course, I am You." _

"_Why am I here? I did nothing!" _

"_Unfortunately, those researchers aren't very good at destroying transmutation circles. You're here, whether you like it or not." _

"_Let me leave! I want nothing from you!" _

"_Ah, but you want to live, don't you?"_

"…_Of course I do." _

"_I can give you a second chance." _

_Two huge doors opened, black hands reaching out._

"_There is, of course, a price…"_

The figure sat upright, looking around. Dank walls, the distant sound of waves, the chill of dementors. Azkaban. Not there.

It was just a dream.

Just a distant memory.

oOoOoOoOo

Roy and Riza stared.

Ed dropped the piece of raw hamburger he was holding, and the little…thing screeched, grabbing the meat and eating it.

Roy raised an eyebrow as the it tugged on Ed's pant leg, looking for more.

"Explain, _Hagane no." _

"It, uh…followed me home?"

* * *

><p><strong>I can't believe the response this story has gotten. I really didn't expect this rough little fanfic to be so popular!<strong>

**That being said, feel free to shoot me for making you wait so long for this. Though...then you'd _never _get another chapter...**

**Criticism welcome! Please review!**


	6. Pluvia

**This is a result of me taking HP and FMA and putting into the blender of my mind, then pouring it on paper. I own nothing.**

* * *

><p>"All is <em>one…<em>One is _all..All _is one…"

"Hermione, relax," Ron said, watching her pace around the Gryffindor common room. "We have a month-"

"_Only _a month!" she snapped, whirling to face him. "And if we can't figure it out, we can't even stay in the class! Who knows when we'll ever get to attend another alchemy class? Plus, I've _never _dropped a class before. What if it goes on my records? Plus, O.W.L.s are in just two years-"

"Oh yeah," Harry said, cutting her off. "I saw Ed in the library and he was willing to give me a couple hints on the homework."

"_What?" _Harry blinked at the shock on both his friends faces.

"He helped you? What did he say? Oh, I can't believe I didn't go to him, I just wasn't sure-"

"You call him _Ed?" _

"-but why didn't you _say _anything?" Hermione shrieked, looking very close to grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him.

"Well, it was really weird. He asked me if I'd ever been in a situation where I was about to die and told me to think about it."

Hermione sank into a nearby armchair, obviously deep in thought.

"But…_death?" _Ron sounded appalled. "I mean, I thought his hint in class was just a sort of joke, you know? But…blimey, he's serious, isn't he?"

Harry nodded, as Hermione began shuffling through her notes.

"Bloody crazy…"

oOoOoOoOo

"It followed you." Roy Mustang's tone was filled with enough sarcasm to make a lesser man flinch. Ed, however, used the same amount (if not more) on a regular basis and was, therefore, unaffected.

"Well, it _did."_

"And you want to keep it." he said, watching the…thing tug on Ed's sleeve. Ed pulled out another scrap of raw hamburger and feed it to the animal.

"Well, yeah."

Roy groaned, rubbing his forehead.

"It looks like it's dying, _Hagane no."_

"So?" Ed stared at Mustang angrily. "It's an orphan."

Roy blinked. So that was why. Ed, for all his harshness and tough-guy act, was not going to abandon a fellow orphan.

"Let's talk to the Headmaster about it," Riza suggested, letting Roy give in without risking his reputation. "Does it have a leash?"

"It doesn't need one," Ed replied, patting it on the head. "It follows me everywhere. I think it's imprinted on me or something like that."

Ed.

As a goddamn _mother._

It was fifteen minutes before Roy stopped laughing long enough for them to leave the room.

oOoOoOoOo

Albus Dumbledore had seen many, many strange things in his reign of teaching at Hogwarts. However, it had been several years since a student came into his office with a thestral.

"Look, Colonel Bastard says I have to clear this with you because you're in charge of the school, but I don't actually give a crap. If you say no, I'm keeping it anyway, so just deal with that now. All I want to know is what the hell it is and then we can go and forget we ever had this conversation."

Dumbledore blinked slowly, looking down at the small animal who's gaze was switching uncertainly from the blond-haired boy to the white-haired headmaster.

"Well," he said slowly, patting the small creature on the head. "This is a baby thestral, Mr. Elric."

Ed blinked.

"I keep forgetting you know my name," he muttered as the thestral left Dumbledore's side to nuzzle his hand. "Anyway, what's wrong with it?"

"Pardon?"

"It looks very sickly," Riza explained from the back of the office.

"Ah," Dumbledore's eyes returned to their usual twinkle. "That is actually normal for a thestral. They are skeletal by nature, and always appear quite thin. But, Ms. Hawkeye, may I assume that you can see it?"

"Why wouldn't she?" Ed butted in irritably. "Looking as creepy as this one does, they're hard to miss. Even the colonel noticed it."

"Ah, but that is interesting," Dumbledore's eyes lost a bit of their twinkle, making Ed feel more like he was being analyzed than simply being watched. "You see, thestrals can only be seen by those who've witnessed death. Since all three of you can see them, I can't help but wonder…"

"That's enough." Roy, who had been trying to figure out how the portraits of the headmasters could move, spoke up for the first time. "Professor, you know that we are from another world, and that we are trying to get home. You even know _Hagane no's _real name, and even suggested we pretend he was Hawkeye's son in order to make things less suspicious. You already know too much."

"Of course, of course," Dumbledore replied, smiling. "It would not be equivalent, am I right?"

"Damn straight," Ed grumbled, nearly knocking into a table covered in spindly, silver objects. The small thestral (which, after some investigation, was found to be a girl) followed happily, her small tuft of a tail swishing back and forth. Roy and Riza, being closer to the door, left first. Ed was about to leave as well when a thought struck him.

"You can see her too, can't you?"

Dumbledore smiled, though it was the slightest bit strained. "Equivalence, Mr. Elric."

"Tch." Followed closely by the thestral, Ed left the office, the door slamming behind him.

"Are you actually going to keep it?" Roy asked once Ed had stepped off the spiral staircase, the gargoyle shifting back into position.

"Yeah." Ed scoffed, rubbing the thestral's head. "It's funny. I mean, I always yelled at Al for bringing home cats, and here I am with a bat-winged-horse-thing." His face softened. "Hey, what do you think of that? Allie?"

The thestral gave a soft _kree_ as it gently nipped Ed's hand.

oOoOoOoOo

The next day dawned dark and gloomy, with rain pattering against the castle windows. Not unusual weather for the British Isles, but not something that happened often in Amestris. Therefore, it did not bode well for the three alchemy teachers…especially since something bad always seemed to happen on rainy days.

For example, Scar attacking.

Or Nina.

Or Hughes's funeral, according to Roy.

Add in aching scars and, in one case, an aching stump, and all three of them agreed that today was probably not going to be good.

Riza sighed as she sat at the staff table, running a hand irritably over her neck where, just under her turtleneck, sat a large scar. She _hated _the fact that this pain could get to her, especially since both the colonel and Edward had much worse pains to deal with, but she was just so sore. Her back especially, though she couldn't rub that in public. She rolled her shoulders back with a sigh, before returning to her breakfast.

Ed, while outwardly seemed to be in no pain, snapped at nearly everyone on the way down to breakfast, causing a small first-year to burst into tears (after which he, rather awkwardly, swore and tried to get her to stop crying, which caused her to cry harder, and it continued as such until Mustang finally intervened). He was also stabbing at his waffles far harder than necessary, and glaring viciously at anyone who spared a glance at the plate of raw steak next to his breakfast. Allie stuck her head out from underneath the staff table and dragged the steak off the plate and onto the ground, where she happily dug in.

Ed cursed as he broke his third plate that morning from his excessive use of force at the same time Roy cursed, more softly, as he dropped his spoon _again. _

_I'm not usually this bad, _he thought to himself as he fought to make his fingers bend around the spoon. _It's just that they're so sore from this damn weather…_

_I really _HATE _rain._

"Sir." Hawkeye's voice was soft as she picked up his spoon, helping him curl his fingers around the handle. They both paused, her fingers on his hands and her face…oh god, her face was _so close to his…_

"Thanks," he muttered, turning back to his oatmeal as she took a sip of her coffee. Ed snickered.

Today might not be so bad after all.

oOoOoOoOo

"HARBRINGER OF DEATH AND DOOM! BRINGER OF GRIEF AND CARRIER OF CURSES! IT HAS JUST ENTERED THIS CLASSROOM!" Professor Trelawney shrieked, pointing a shaking finger toward the opened trapdoor leading into the classroom. Everyone turned, Neville dropped yet another teacup, and Lavander and Parvati shrieked.

Ed blinked. Sure, he probably wasn't expected in the class…but still, he had hoped for a somewhat-warmer reaction. Since there were no alchemy classes scheduled that day, he had wandered through the castle, found a silver ladder…

…and ended up in this situation.

"Erm…me?" he asked finally, looking around.

"No, my dear, but you have been _marked," _Trelawney continued, trembling. "By the creature behind you!"

The class craned their necks to look behind Ed while Hermione rolled her eyes. Neville paled and dropped another teacup.

"Professor, there's nothing behind Professor Hawkeye," Hermione said, without raising her hand.

Ed looked behind him as well, then realization struck.

"Oh, you mean _her,"_ he said, putting a hand on Allie's head. Trelawney staggered over to an overstuffed armchair and sat unsteadily in it. Ed grinned wickedly.

"My dear boy…to be followed by such a creature…you, my dear, are _doomed." _

Ed, however, wasn't listening. He knelt down to Allie's height, and was scratching her under the chin.

"Who's a good little harbringer of death?" he crooned. "Who's a gooood little curse-bringer? Yes you are! Yes you are~!"

Trelawney fainted. Lavender and Parvati screamed, rushing over to the teacher's side.

"Someone get Madam Pomfrey!" Lavender shouted, sounding close to tears.

Allie looked up at Ed uncertainly.

"Nah, you did nothing wrong," he told her, scratching her behind the ears. "Actually, that was the most fun I've had in a while." He looked around at the classroom of panicking students, an exasperated Hermione and a still-terrified Neville. "We better go, before McGonagall comes to yell at me again."

He turned and opened the trapdoor, before realizing something.

"Hey…how'd you follow me up here, anyway?"

Allie screeched, spreading her bat-like wings wide and looking very proud of herself.

Lavender and Parvati fainted next to their teacher.

_Huh. _Ed thought as he looked around the classroom, which had now dissolved into chaos. _Maybe rainy days aren't that bad after all._

oOoOoOoOo

The next day was somewhat sunnier. Ed was still being avoided like the plague by most of the third years, except for Hermione, Ron, and Harry (Though it did take some convincing on Hermione's part) but, on the bright side, Allie was becoming a more adept flyer. Since it was a Saturday, Ed was happy to take Allie down to the grounds near the Black Lake to help her get flying practice.

Roy, who had nothing better to do, and Riza, who was his bodyguard, followed Ed down to the lake, Riza with a book in her lap and Roy with a set of alchemy notes.

Ed smirked, watching the two together. They were sitting together, far closer than military protocol would allow, which was an improvement. However, if they ended up touching, both would freeze in what they were doing before awkwardly pretending it didn't happen.

It was rather amusing to watch two high-ranking military officers act like awkward teenagers.

Roy looked up from his notes to see Ed's head disappear underwater. He rolled his eyes, turning a page. _What is that kid doing now?_

He froze. His notes fell to the ground.

Ed has automail.

_He can't swim._

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><p><strong>Yeah, I'm evil...<strong>

**I'm going to try to get a chapter out at least every two weeks, if not more often. I'm so sorry for making you guys wait so long, but at least the chapters are longer, right? *sweatdrop***

**Please review, even if it's to tell me how much you hate me for making you wait!**


	7. Lacus

**I own nada. Zip. Zilch.**

**Yes, I am updating twice in two days. It's sort of an apology for making you wait so long, plus I'm not quite evil enough to leave you with such a cliffie. This won't happen often, tho.**

* * *

><p><em>Shit.<em>

Roy was moving before he even completed the thought and he knew Riza was right behind him, racing toward the lake. Ed hadn't been down there long—but he probably had no idea how to swim and with solid steel _attached right to his very nerves _dragging him down…

They needed to get to him, _fast._

Roy opened his eyes as soon as he was underwater, ignoring the sting it caused. _Where is Ed? Where the hell is Ed? He's wearing a fucking bright red coat!_

Riza spotted him first, a few feet below them. He was struggling against three…things. Half-fish and half-almost human, they were grabbing onto the exposed metal of his leg, pulling it down and Ed with it.

_They want his leg, _Roy realized and suddenly his mind flew to one time when he was little, fighting a magpie for his mother's silver necklace.

Riza had reach Ed and was trying to pull him up, away from the fish-freaks. Roy quickly reach Ed's other side, kicking upward with all his strength. All three of them were trying to attack the fish-freaks, but the water resistance made their blows weak.

_I really hate water, _Roy thought as one of the fish-freaks grabbed onto his arm. Their fight had gotten a lot of attention, and more of the fish-things were trying to drag Ed down and pull Roy and Riza off of him. Ed had started to go slack in Roy's grip.

Out of the corner of his eye, Roy saw Riza grab a gun from one of many hidden holsters. _She can't shoot them...can she?_

But the fish-freaks noticed it too, and they all froze for an instant, staring at it. Riza twisted it slightly, letting it catch the little light that shone through the water. It shone even brighter than Ed's automail.

Then she threw it.

The fish-freaks let out shrieks of fury, abandoning Ed in favor of the gun. Riza was a genius—but they weren't any closer to the surface than before. Ed had gone limp, unconscious, and both Roy and Riza were quickly running out of air.

_I hate water, _Roy thought blearily as he fought to stay conscious. _I fucking hate it…_

And then they were on shore, coughing and gasping, and there was _air, _wonderful air. Professor Dumbledore was walking toward them, wand still out, followed closely by Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey.

"Out of my way!" Madam Pomfrey said quickly, rushing over to where Ed was lying. She pointed her wand at him, muttering a spell, and then water shot out of his mouth. Ed coughed and gasped.

_Ed's _alive, Roy realized, still gasping for air. Riza lay next to him, spluttering and coughing. He rolled over to face her as McGonagall and Dumbledore conjured blankets and towels, wrapping them both tightly.

"Riza," he whispered, still gasping. For some reason, she _had _to understand this, now. "You were amazing."

Then he fainted.

oOoOoOoOo

He woke a few minutes later, noticing that he was much warmer than he'd been before.

"Good, you're up," Madam Pomfrey said as she bustled over, carrying a few potions. "I used a drying spell, so you should be much more comfortable, but I'd like to treat those scratches before giving you a Pepperup Potion."

Roy hadn't even realized he was bleeding until the witch pointed it out. Fish-freaks had sharp nails, which they apparently hadn't hesitated to use to try and get him off Ed.

"Ed!" he realized suddenly, sitting upright. "And Ri-Hawkeye!"

"They're fine," Pomfrey assured him. "Professor Hawkeye should wake soon, and Mr. Hawkeye will probably wake this evening. He refused to let me treat him until I sedated him," she explained, seeing Mustang's questioning look. He laughed, sounding more like he was choking due to his still-sore throat.

"Sounds like him."

"Yes, well," Madam Pomfrey sniffed, clearly not as amused by Ed's antics. "Your gloves please, Professor."

"Pardon?" he asked, giving her one of his winning smiles. "My hands weren't hurt, Madam."

"Not this time, no. But I can recognize when old injuries are acting up, Professor. You appear to be rather like your subordinate in that you won't be in here unless you pass out or are forced, so I'm going to take advantage of the fact that you're here now."

Roy hesitated. Not just because he was offended at being compared to Fullmetal, but also because it was a hard to explain injury. He couldn't exactly say "Oh, I was stabbed through the hands by an artificial human who was in charge of Amestris to force me to try to bring someone back to life, which blinded me. Oh, you've never heard of Amestris and you've noticed that I'm no longer blind? Funny story, that…"

"I can at least try to improve dexterity," she said, seeing his hesitation. He sighed, half tempted to tell her that his dexterity was _fine, _thank you very much. He could snap, and that was all he needed. Sure, it had taken him months to learn to snap again, and he still struggled with handwriting and, on days when they were sore, everyday tasks like eating…

He pulled off his gloves, letting her see the thick scars from where Wrath's swords had stabbed straight through. At least the scar from the transmutation circle he carved into his hand during the fight with Lust had faded completely, though even if it had remained, people would most likely not notice it next to the large fat scars on both sides of his hands now.

Madam Pomfrey ran her fingers over the scars, occasionally muttering a spell.

"How did you get these?"

"Er…work related accident."

She raised an eyebrow at that, but continued examining him for a few more minutes.

"I'm sorry," she said at last. "There's nothing I can do. There's too much scar tissue buildup. The only thing I could do that could potentially help would be to reopen the wounds-"

"Which you aren't going to do." Came a voice from the other bed.

"Ah, Professor Hawkeye!" Madam Pomfrey said, as Riza pulled back the curtain between the two beds, sitting up. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine, Madam." She turned to Mustang, who gulped. "Sir."

"Y-yeah, Hawkeye?"

"_Why _did you jump into the water, sir? I could have gotten Edward while you went for help, sir! There was no need for you to endanger yourself!"

"I wasn't going to let Edward drown! Or you, for that matter! If you didn't notice, it took both of us to keep him from sinking!"

"It took one of us to get the things off of him," retorted Riza, folding her arms. "You could have _drowned, _sir!"

"So could you!"

"I'm not the one who's useless in water, sir."

"Not that line _again…"_

"It's true, sir."

They looked at each other from opposite beds, having the silent conversation they had after almost every battle.

_You should have kept yourself safe._

_I know but I won't. You should have let me handle it._

_You know that I won't._

_I'll still follow you._

_Thank you._

Madam Pomfrey ran her wand over the cuts on Mustang's arms, and a few muttered spells later the scratches were gone.

"Now, Professor Hawkeye, it's your turn." She gave Riza an appraising look. "Your back's been bothering you, hasn't it?"

Riza froze. Roy turned toward her, a stricken look on his face.

"Riza…is it…?"

"No sir," she said firmly. "It's not _that _scar."

"Regardless of what scar it is, I'd still like to examine it," snapped Madam Pomfrey. Riza looked at her, then looked to where Ed was sleeping, the curtain drawn securely around the bed.

"Promise me," Riza whispered, taking a deep breath. "You'll never talk about this to anyone, and you'll never study alchemy after this."

"Professor, I never intended to—"

"_Promise." _

"I will never study alchemy." Riza relaxed the slightest bit at the nurse's response. "Professor Mustang, if you would step out?"

"It's all right. He's seen it enough times." She looked up at him with a glare that said _You've seen my back and I'm letting you see it again, but leer at my chest and you will get a bullet in your manhood._

Roy turned around as she removed her black turtleneck.

"Merlin…" Madam Pomfrey whispered. "Is that a tattoo?"

"Sort of," Riza replied, her voice taking on the clipped quality Roy knew she always got when she was close to panic.

"These are those circles you use, aren't they? And there's smaller ones scattered across the tattoo."

"Can you do anything about it?"

"Well, the burn scar, I could potentially remove, but I couldn't do anything about the underlying tattoo."

"Then don't remove the burn." Riza replied, her words short and almost angry. "He did something to the skin-I don't know what. But if I get cut there, the skin grows back in the form of the array. Only burning it would remove it, but if you remove the scar, it will be complete again." She pulled her turtleneck back on. "Heal my cuts please, Madam. I'd like to get out of here."

A few moments later, they were walking back to their offices, sans Edward.

"Hawkeye."

"Yes, sir?"

"Your tattoo seemed redder than before."

"It must be your imagination, sir."

oOoOoOoOo

"You have to admit, Hermione, there's gotta be _something _going on!" Ron said, pumping the air with his fist. "You were there in Divination! Trelawney says he's been marked for doom, he makes fun of it, and the next day he almost drowns in the lake! Professor Hawkeye and Mustang almost get killed saving him!"

"He probably slipped on a rock, Ronald," Hermione replied, absent-mindedly turning a page of her book.

"The _day after _she makes her prediction?"

"Coincidence."

"Hermione, he nearly died!"

"Then it's very lucky someone got Professor Dumbledore in time."

Harry sighed, listening to Ron and Hermione bicker over divination. He might have joined in, if not for the fact that Ron was making some good points, and he _had _seen a Grim. If Trelawney really was right…well, Harry supposed, he might as well work on a will.

"Ron, Professor Hawkeye is _fine. _Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to work on homework for his class!"

"Hermione, we've still got a month-"

"Three weeks! And if I get thrown out of this class, I might as well kiss my future goodbye!"

"Hermione, "Ron and Harry said in unison. "It's just a class."

Hermione huffed impatiently and grabbed her notes.

"What I don't understand," she said after a few minutes. "Is _what _this has to do with alchemy. I mean, death and such, it's all so morbid."

"Maybe he's just trying to lessen the class size," Ron suggested, flopping back in an armchair. "Like, all the spineless guys who can't handle a little death."

"No, no, there's got to be something _more," _Hermione muttered looking through her notes again. "What would happen if you died?"

"Well," Ron said, taking on an air of extreme concentration. "You'd stop breathing."

"Yes, thank you Ronald."

"Mum'd throw a fit," he continued. "And Fred and George would figure out some way to pull a massive prank on me at my funeral."

"Ron, you'd be dead."

"They'd still do it. Don't underestimate Fred and George."

"Dudley'd probably laugh," Harry muttered, thinking. "Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon'd be relieved."

"What about You-Know-Who, mate?"

"He'd be happy as well, I suppose." Harry frowned. "It seems like a lot of people'd be happy if I died."

"I'd miss you."

"Thanks, Ron."

"You'd start to smell after a bit as well," Ron continued. "And then you'd look awful and all boney…"

"Ron, that's _it!" _shrieked Hermione, looking for all the world as if she'd like to kiss Ron right there and then. "That's the answer!"

"Oh…well, yeah…" Ron said, looking as though he didn't have the slightest clue what was going on. Hermione didn't notice.

"We decompose, and become nutrients, so life keeps going on Earth. We're not significant at all. But then without us, life couldn't exist at all. That's _it!" _

She turned back to them, a huge smile on her face.

"One is all, all is one!"

* * *

><p><strong>That last line would sound <em>so <em>much cooler in Japanese...**

**Again, this long, super-soon chapter is just a huge thank you to all of you guys for sticking with me for the past few chapters, despite sporadic updates and short chapters. You might even get another one before the week is out, due to a break with absolutely nothing for me to do. You guys are AWESOME.**

**Also, go thank MoonClaimed for giving me a much better idea for why Ed fell in the lake than my original one. **

**Review?**


	8. Adolebit

**If I owned FMA and HP, I'd be a cow sleeping on a bed of money. I'd probably also poop rainbows.**

* * *

><p>"So if we add this symbol here, then use some refractory earths—"<p>

"We can't have the symbol for incineration! We'd be vaporized!"

"That's the point of the refractory earths! And if we added this symbol here—"

"Bastard! Are you _trying _to get us killed?"

"Listen, _shortie, _you haven't used a transmutation circle in years-"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL HE COULD RIDE A MOUSE LIKE AN ELEPHANT? I'M ALMOST AS TALL AS YOU, COLONEL BASTARD!"

"I was merely commenting on your _short _–term memory, Fullmetal."

"WHAT WAS THAT?"

Riza sighed, rubbing a cleaning cloth along one of her pistols before replacing it in a holster. Yet another discussion of how to get back to Amestris had dissolved into bickering.

"JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE A PYRO WHO BLOWS UP EVERYTHING HE SETS EYES ON—"

She flicked the safety off one of her guns, creating an audible click (it was just to make sure that it worked, of course, with nothing to do with the increasingly loud argument next to her) and the room fell silent. The argument continued, though in significantly softer tones, a moment later.

Riza finished cleaning her guns and put them back into their many holsters, though the fact that one of them was empty unnerved her. Her hip felt…lacking without the familiar weight of her FN Browning resting on it.

A soft _ciirrup _made her look up. Allie sat in front of her, skeletal head cocked to the side. Riza sighed, stroking the little creature's head. She let out a pleased sigh, then ran over to Ed and tugged on his pant leg (almost always his left, Riza noticed), letting him know she was hungry.

Riza sighed, leaning back on the couch she was sitting on. Dumbledore had been very kind to his "unexpected guests," giving them a tower to themselves, with private rooms for each of them going off of a main one, complete with fireplace and couches. There were even large windows, giving a spectacular view of the grounds. He had been nothing but polite and yet experience had taught her that those who give much later ask for much. They were teaching a class, and he had said that providing them with quarters was standard procedure, and yet…

She let out another long breath as the argument to her right became steadily louder again. She would think about it later, she decided, reaching for a book and wondering if she could take a nap before the next class.

Her back hurt.

oOoOoOoOo

Soft giggles bounced around the cell walls. The dementors took no notice; they were used to the laughter of the insane.

The prisoner laughed again, tracing a red stone with a fingertip. The gem caught no sunlight in the dank cells of Azkaban, but shone regardless.

Laughter, the faint, disturbing laughter of someone far, far from happy, rang out again. A dementor moved closer, and soon the laughter died.

Instead there were screams as the prisoner, like so many others, relived the worst memories of his or her life.

Though, in this particular prisoner's case, it was the memories of death that haunted.

oOoOoOoOo

Ron, Harry and Hermione fidgeted nervously. The day's Alchemy class was half-over, and they had yet to tell any of the teachers that they'd completed the homework.

"Listen, Hermione, just go tell him. I mean, you're the best in the year, all the teachers love you."

"Just because you're scared of Professor Hawkeye, Ronald—"

"Who wouldn't be? _His eyes glow!"_

"They don't _glow, _they're just gold."

"And apparently he's followed by some animal that kills whoever it comes across—"

Allie, who had been sleeping at Ed's feet, looked up.

"—And he somehow survived when he _should be dead!"_

His two friends stared at him in silence.

"Ron, mate….you do know that Trelawney's predictions are crap, right?"

"Well, still…don't you feel like something's off about them? Like they aren't normal or something?"

"Honestly Ron, Dumbledore hired them. He wouldn't hire some alien people or people from another planet where they didn't have magic and souls were bound to armor and there were plots to turn the entire country into a single organism with the power of God which involved crests of blood and human sacrifices who'd tried to bring the dead back to life."

"That's...detailed, Hermione."

"I'm just saying, the chances of that are as good as the chances of Harry having a piece of You-Know-Who's soul inside him, or Snape being a good guy and the catalyst for a seven-book series that was turned into eight movies."

Ron and Harry stared at her for a minute.

"She's got a point, Ron. I mean, it _is _about as likely as Ed fighting off a serial killer who can blow stuff up with one hand…"

oOoOoOoOo

Scar sneezed in the middle of a meeting with the Fuher. All over Olivier, Roy's stand-in.

She was not pleased.

Scar later declined to comment on whether or not he was able to bear children after the incident.

oOoOoOoOo

"I guess you're right," Ron said, leaning back in his chair. "I'm still not telling him, though."

"Telling who what?"

All three jumped. Behind them stood Professor Hawkeye, arms crossed.

"P-Professor Hawkeye! We, er, I—"

"Whatever." He waved a hand lazily. "See me after class, though,"

Hermione looked stricken. Harry tried speaking up in his friend's defense.

"But Ed, we'll be late to class if we do that."

"Not my problem." He turned to walk away when something invisible tugged on his arm.

"Sir, something's pulling on you," Hermione said, pointing.

"Not 'sir,' I'm not that old," he corrected her, before reaching down. "Let go, Allie. Come on, bringer-of-death-and-curses-and-pestilence."

Ron paled.

Ed turned to leave again, but whatever had his shirt was holding fast.

"Allie, _come on," _he snapped, tugging on his shirt again. "Allie—damnit!"

The aforementioned "Allie" had apparently made Professor Hawkeye overbalance and fall to the ground.

The class stared in a mixture of terror and amusement. Their professor had fallen on the ground, and appeared to be attempting to tickle something invisible...but this was apparently the harbringer of death and doom that Professor Trelawney had mentioned.

"Edward." The other Professor Hawkeye (Professor Mustang appeared to have disappeared behind the desk in an attempt to muffle his laughter) walked over, lifting something off of him. "You're disturbing the class."

Ed got up, appearing only slightly abashed, though Ron would later swear he heard him muttering something like "It's _her _fault," and "Bastard would have gotten away with it."

"Please do stay after class," Professor Hawkeye added, in a tone that left no argument.

"Yes ma'am."

oOoOoOoOo

"So," said Professor Mustang (he had managed to recover from his laughing fit by the end of the class), "What was so important that you were talking about it instead of working on the homework Ed assigned?"

"Well sir…" Hermione fidgeted uncomfortably, "We sort of finished that already."

Ed blinked. "Really?"

"Well, Hermione's the one who did it," Ron added, speaking up. "Harry and I just helped a bit is all."

"What's the answer then?" Roy asked, leaning back in his seat.

After a moment in which nobody seemed to want to respond, Harry spoke up. "Well, all is the world…"

"…and one is me," Hermione finished, still looking frightened that she would end up scolded.

There was silence as all three professors stared at the trio. It dragged on, and on…

And then the unthinkable happened.

Professor Edward Hawkeye _laughed._

"Uh…sir?"

"You _actually got it. _In less than a month, no less!"

"How long did it take you then, _Hagane no?" _Professor Mustang asked, looking amused.

"Almost the whole month! And I'm pretty sure no one's gotten it since. I mean, if Teacher gave it to us, it must've been near impossible. She didn't want us to pass. At all."

"Was this before or after she nearly starved you to death?"

"After. Oh, and that masked man with the club she'd sent had almost beaten us to death as well."

"Um…" said Ron uncertainly.

"Ah, I'd forgotten you told us about that part. Did you really eat poisonous mushrooms once?"

"Hah, yeah! And this one time we thought these berries were good, but they were actually hallucinogenic, and Al thought he was the Scarf of Sexual Preference, whatever that is, and then—"

"Er, we're just gonna go…" said Harry, as he and his two friends slowly inched toward the door.

oOoOoOoOo

The three teachers headed back to their rooms after the last alchemy class of the day, passing a small crowd of students on their way. Riza blinked, trying to stay focused, and she stumbled the slightest bit.

Of course, Roy noticed.

"Are you all right?"

"Fine, sir."

"Really?"

"Yes, sir." _Because I'm fine, _she told herself stubbornly. _I am fine, there are no spots dancing in front of my eyes, I do not feel lightheaded, and why am I so goddamned tired, so bloody tired, is someone calling my name?_

And then she saw black.

oOoOoOoOo

IN HONOR OF APRIL FOOL'S DAY/YAY THE HUNGER GAMES!/HOLY CRAP, SHE'S ACTUALLY _UPDATING _OMAKE:

"Right," said Ed, standing in front of a group of about 15 Hogwarts students. "So, I'm pretty sure you're wondering why you're here. Well, the thing is, there's been a little problem with headcount lately. There's too many of you. Which is why we've converted the Forbidden Forest—" he pointed behind him, "Into a giant arena. We left everything in it that could kill you. Actually, we added a few things too." A huge explosion rocked the ground. "Yeah. Like that. Watch out for that."

"But what _was _that?" asked a small second-year. Ed shrugged.

"If I told you, it would ruin the fun." The second-year gulped. "Now, we've picked two of you randomly from each year. Except for third year. We picked you three—" he pointed at Harry, Ron and Hermione, "Because a, we'll get great publicity, and b, you're rather annoying and at least two of you will die in this tournament."

"Wait, WHAT?"

"So, you fifteen guys, from you wimpy first-years to you equally wimpy seventh-years, are going into the forest. One of you is going to come out. You're going to either kill each other, get killed by random crap, or feast on each other's corpses. Any of those are good with me."

"But, wait! Professor Dumbledore!" Hermione shouted, seeing the headmaster walking up nearby. "You aren't going to allow this, are you?"

Dumbledore shrugged. "We _are _way over budget already…and Harry has to die at some point anyway, so really this is like killing two birds with one stone."

"WHAT?" Harry, Ron and Hermione looked flabbergasted. Ed grinned.

"Thirty seconds before you start, kiddies. Have fun~!"

* * *

><p><strong>So...it's been a while, hasn't it? -is shot-<strong>

**I'm so, so sorry I didn't update sooner. I intended to, I swear. But have any of you ever had those days when everything goes wrong? Yeah. It's been one of those months.**

**In any case, I'm shocked that this story is so popular! Honestly, I never expected it to get any reviews, much less a hundred already! You guys are amazing and deserving of an author much better than I. Well, at least it's spring break, so you can expect another chapter within the week.**

**Hopefully this more light-hearted chapter will make up a bit for the wait (though the cliffhanger will probably want to make you kill me more). The omake was so much fun to write, I might include them more often.**

**Review...? Maybe? Even if it's to yell at me for leaving you so long? **


	9. Nigrum

**I own all the books in the Harry Potter series AND all 28 volumes of Fullmetal Alchemist!**

**...Apparently that doesn't give me the rights to either, though.**

* * *

><p>There were two things Roy Mustang hated most in the world.<p>

Rain and helplessness.

And, at the current moment, he was most certainly helpless.

A small, rational part of his mind pointed out that people fainted for all sorts of reasons, and he shouldn't be so worried.

But this was Riza Hawkeye.

She never showed weakness unless she was close to breaking. Dangerously, dangerously close to breaking.

_Maybe she hasn't been eating enough lately, _he tried to tell himself as he knelt in the corridor, shouting her name. _Come to think of it, she's been eating very little at meals. Maybe she's tired. Maybe she has a cold. _

But this was Riza Hawkeye.

_Riza bloody Hawkeye. _

And she wasn't waking up.

oOoOoOoOo

"Colonel! Colonel!"

Ed growled, barely holding back from slapping the colonel across the face. He was still shouting the lieutenant's name, clutching her and shaking her.

"Colonel," he finally said softly, laying a hand over one that was clutching the lieutenant's arm. "You're hurting her."

_That _snapped him out of it. He jerked, almost like he wanted to drop her completely, then slowly lowered her to the ground. Allie nudged the lieutenant's face, giving Ed a confused look when she didn't respond.

"She just fainted," Ed said, feeling strange that he was being the logical, calm one for once. "She's going to be fine. Let's take her to the hospital."

Roy swallowed, then nodded, sweeping the lieutenant up bridal-style and nearly running into Madam Pomfrey, who'd been summoned by one of the students.

"There's a shortcut this way," she said, leading him into a corridor behind a tapestry of Kyra the Lustful fleeing a group of trolls. Within moments they were in front of the doors to the Hospital Wing, at which point Madam Pomfrey took Riza out of Roy's arms and closed the doors.

"I'll let you in when I've finished examining her," she said when Roy pounded on them. "It won't do her any good to wake up and see you so upset."

Roy (after finding out the doors were enchanted, he couldn't scare the nurse and realizing he couldn't pull rank here), slumped down against the wall next to the doors, Ed standing next to him with his thestral at his feet.

_She'll be fine, _he reminded himself. _She always has been._

Granted, she had only passed out once before, back when he still called her father "sensei" and he was just "Mustang-san."

_She bowed quietly before exiting the dining room, leaving him and Sensei to eat. She never ate with them; she prepared the meals and ate alone while they were upstairs, training. When he could, he snuck off and ate with her, and occasionally made her laugh. _

_Today he hadn't been able to, as he was learning a new transmutation circle and Sensei had drilled it into him relentlessly. But the glimpse he had of her made him feel as though something was wrong with her. She was pink—not pink like when he complimented her cooking or when he made her laugh, but a flushed pink, like she was hot in this house that was always cold. _

_He finished his meal quickly, excusing himself from the table. He was sure he wouldn't be missed; Sensei had the beginnings of _that _glint in his eye, the maniac light that meant Roy would be ignored for a few days until the new idea was perfected. _

"_Riza?" he asked softly, gently nudging her door open. "I'm coming in." _

_She was lying on the bed, face turned away. She heard him enter though, and stood to greet him, obviously unsteady._

"_Easy, Riza," he said, arms automatically going around her tiny frame. "You're burning up!"_

"_I'm all right, Mustang-san," she murmured, making to stand up again. _

"_No you aren't," he responded, pressing a hand to her forehead to try and figure out just how much of a fever she had. "I'm going to get Sensei." _

"_No," she gasped, her tiny hand suddenly clutching his big one and fear shimmering in her caramel eyes. "No, you-you mustn't, Father might be cross, you mustn't bother him Mustang-san—"_

_And then her body betrayed her, crumpling in his arms, and scared him out of his wits._

_His first thought was to run for a doctor, but few in the town wanted to associate with the Hawkeyes (well, Hawkeye senior) and then Sensei would know. And Sensei couldn't know, not when Riza didn't want him to know. _

_So he stayed with her all night, doing everything Aunt Chris did when he was sick. He stayed there, a scared little boy holding the hand of a sick little girl, until the sun rose and she woke._

Lost in memory as he was, Roy failed to notice the door opening until it came in contact with his nose.

"Goddamn it…" he muttered as he got to his feet. Then he registered the fact that if the door was open, there must be news.

"She'll wake soon," Madam Pomfrey said the minute he whirled around to face her. "It appears she was just exhausted." Roy let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, not allowing himself to show any other loss of composure in front of Ed.

"Is there a reason she'd be exhausted, Professor Mustang?"

"Ah," he said, realizing she was still talking to him. "No, I honestly can't think of anything."

"Has she been eating well? Sleeping well?"

"Well, she's been eating a little less lately, and as for sleep, I couldn't say. Wait," he paused. "Why are you asking _me _this and not her?"

"Well, Professor," said Madam, the hint of a smile on her face. "I assume that she's rather like her son and yourself, in that she will say nearly anything in order to get out of the hospital a bit faster."

"THE HELL? WHO ARE YOU COMPARING TO THIS CESSPOOL OF ARRONGANCE AND BASTARD-NESS?"

"Please don't shout in the Hospital Wing, Professor Hawkeye!"

"May we see her?"

Madam Pomfrey nodded, then shot a glance at Ed.

"Could your thestral stay outside please, Professor? I'm not superstitious, but I like to keep them out on principle."

Ed nodded, then stopped and stared at the nurse.

"You can see her?"

"I was working here and at St Mungo's during the Wizarding War, Mr. Hawkeye," she said, giving him a sad smile. "I've been able to see them for a long time."

oOoOoOoOo

"And you're not lightheaded? Not dizzy at all? I still think you're running a bit of a fever…"

"Sir," Riza sighed, half-slapping his hand away. "I'm _fine." _She took a sip of a nutrient potion Madam Pomfrey had all but forced on her and grimaced.

Which, of course, set off a new round of questioning from Roy.

"Are you hurt? Does your head hurt? Should I get Madam Pomfrey?"

"No, sir. The potion tastes bad is all." He opened his mouth, and she shot him one of her looks. Roy sighed.

"You scared me back there, _chuui."_

"_Sumimasen, taiisa."_

They both relaxed slightly, more comfortable with each other in this military-formal context. Ed came in a few minutes later, Allie waiting outside.

"Oi, bastard, someone's here to see us."

"Hawkeye too?"

"Yeah." Ed pulled out a chair and sat down next to Riza's bed. A moment later, Professor Dumbledore entered the wing, eye-twinkle on full blast.

"Headmaster," Roy said immediately, rising. Dumbledore gestured for him to sit.

"No need for formalities, Roy." He turned to Riza. "How are you, Miss Hawkeye? I heard you fainted earlier."

"Much better, Headmaster, thank you. I'd be back working if Madam Pomfrey didn't insist I stay here."

"Ah well, I've found that Madam often knows best," Dumbledore replied, chuckling.

"Oh, cut the crap old man." Ed grumbled from his seat. "Don't act like this is just a courtesy call. You want something."

"As sharp as you claim to be, Mr. Elric," Dumbledore replied, inclining his head toward Ed. He turned back so he was facing all of them, tone businesslike. "You see, this evening we had an incident near Gryffindor tower. The Fat Lady, the portrait guarding the entrance, was slashed by someone attempting to gain entry. As it stands, it appears we have a killer in our castle, and you three are high-ranking military officials."

"You want us to find him."

"I want you to search the castle for him," Dumbledore replied. "The other teachers will be looking too of course, but as specialists, I think we'd benefit from your help."

"Will it get me out of the Hospital Wing?" Riza asked. Dumbledore's good-natured twinkle quickly returned.

"I believe I may be able to sway Madam, yes."

"Then I guess we're in," Roy said with a sigh, standing up. "Where do we start?"

oOoOoOoOo

Ed was not happy.

_The dungeons, _he grumbled to himself as he looked around a corner. _Of all the areas in this too-freaking-big castle, and the bastard sticks me with the damn dungeons. _Allie, following at his side, looked right at home.

It was cold and dark, though he had managed to lose that creepy caretaker (Finch?) rather easily a while back. He could see why nobody came down of their own free will other than that one creepy potions guy and the kids who wore green.

_Which came first, the creepy potions guy or the creepy dungeons? _

A noise from a dark corner (of course, they never come out in the open) made him turn around, arms already raised in a fighting stance.

"Who's there?" Allie, however, wasn't agitated at all and just gave Ed a _what the hell are you doing? _look.

A moment later, a black shaggy dog stuck its head out of the shadows. It whined, and Ed relaxed. Allie swished her tail and tugged on Ed's sleeve, eager to keep going.

"You're right Allie, just some kid's pet dog. Let's go."

oOoOoOoOo

Ron, Harry and Hermione stared at each other, still puzzling over Dumbledore's enigmatic conversation with Snape. It sounded like Snape suspected at least one of the teachers to have been _helping _Black, but that was impossible…

Wasn't it?

More footsteps approached and all three quickly went back to pretending they were sleeping.

"Headmaster," said a deep voice Harry recognized to be Professor Mustang's. "I found no sign of him in the upper levels of the school."

"Good, good," Dumbledore murmured. "I don't suppose he could have easily escaped an experienced professional like yourself."

"You overestimate my abilities, sir," replied the professor. "It's Hawkeye he should fear. She lives up to her name, after all."

"Now you're the one overestimating abilities, sir," replied a soft female voice, presumably Professor Hawkeye's. "But either way, if he was using a magical means, we wouldn't have been able to pick up on that at all."

"True," Dumbledore said, "But I believe his wand was snapped when he was imprisoned, though he could have gotten one by other means…"

"Well, the other teachers checked as well, so we should be fine," Professor Mustang said with a tone of finality. "Though I don't know what you were expecting two people who couldn't do magic to save their lives do have done had we actually run into Black."

"Oh, I'm sure you would have been fine," Dumbledore said, and Harry could _hear _the twinkling of his eyes. "Miss Hawkeye does live up to her name, doesn't she?"

"She does indeed."

"Oh, Roy, aren't you going to wait for Edward to finish in the dungeons?"

"Honestly, Headmaster? That kid has the best chance of taking on Black out of everyone in the castle. Plus, he has an _excellent _bodyguard."

They chuckled at that, and Harry heard the two men exchange farewells.

"Oh, Miss Hawkeye?" Dumbledore added, "Do get some rest. You look unwell."

She said something softly back, then all three quietly left the hall.

Ron rolled over in his sleeping bag, facing Harry and mouthed "What was that all about?"

oOoOoOoOo

"What d'you suppose Professor Mustang meant when he said that he and Professor Hawkeye couldn't do magic?" Ron asked the next day when he, Harry and Hermione found a minute alone.

"Probably exactly what it sounded like," Harry replied. "Maybe they really can't do magic."

"But that doesn't make _sense," _Hermione said immediately. "They're professors at Hogwarts, for goodness sake's! According to _Hogwarts: A History, _you have to go through loads of tests of your magical skill to get in, in front of at least the Headmaster and another teacher! It's impossible for them to have gotten in without it."

"Maybe they faked it," Harry suggested. "Maybe they had someone else do it with, I dunno, Polyjuice Potion."

"But wouldn't _someone _have noticed?" Hermione pointed out.

"Well, Dumbledore seemed to know," Ron said. "I mean, Mustang was joking about it and all. Maybe he's covering for them."

"Yes, but _still…_" she muttered, looking somewhat troubled. "They're _professors…"_

They weren't able to revisit the subject for a good deal of time. Percy had taken to following him (probably on his mother's orders), though Harry privately wondered what good he would do against Sirius Black. Teachers were also finding excuses to walk alongside him in the halls and if he looked, he saw one of the three alchemy teachers somewhere nearby.

_At least they're more subtle than the other teachers, _he thought when Professor Flitwick accompanied him to Transfiguration under the flimsy excuse of "just patrolling and they were going the same way."

It was usually Ed who was in the halls, usually scribbling something in a journal or appearing to be buried in a book. It was touching, in a way, but Harry was still quite annoyed with it after a few days. The day's Potions class was, as per usual, not helping his mood.

"Harry," Ron hissed in his ear. "Harry, look—it's Professor Hawkeye!"

"Ed?"

"No, the other one!"

So it was. She slipped in through the dungeon door, barely noticed. Snape looked up from where he was inspecting Neville's potion and walked over to her. They had a brief whispered exchange, then slipped into his office.

"Weird," Ron muttered, oblivious to the fact that his potion was now whistling. "Why would they need to go into his office?"

"Ron," Hermione whispered urgently. "Your potion!" Ron cursed and threw in a handful of newt livers, which seemed to quiet it somewhat.

The two came back out, whispering again, then Professor Hawkeye quietly walked out the door, still barely noticed.

"Harry, did you see what she put in her pocket?"

"Pocket?"

"Yeah, something shiny…I didn't see what, though."

"Potter, Weasley. Ten points from Gryffindor for talking. Ten more if you aren't quiet."

Ron and Harry shut up.

oOoOoOoOo

"Are they actually going to play in this weather?" Ed grumbled a few days later, staring at the fierce rain. "I mean, the sport is insane enough—flying on brooms to catch flying balls—but they're doing it in the _rain?"_

"Oh hush, _Hagane no, _a little fresh air might do you good."

"Says the bastard who's going to be inside and dry!"

"I need to protect the castle."

"You're just useless when it rains!"

"Somehow you don't have the same sting as when Hawkeye says it…"

"Oh shut it, bastard," Ed grumbled before stomping toward the pitch. "If my automail rusts, I'm blaming it on you!"

Roy looked out the window once Ed was out of sight.

"Honestly, I don't envy the kid…" He trailed off, hearing coughing behind him. "Hawkeye?"

She had a hand to her mouth, barely muffling the coughs. A moment later her knees gave out and she fell to the ground, empty potion vials falling out of her pockets.

"Hey, Hawkeye, are you all right? Hawkeye!"

Then Roy noticed the trickle of red coming out of her mouth, and all thoughts of Quidditch were forgotten.

* * *

><p><strong>...does ANYONE read the author's notes?<strong>

**Anyway, a little treat for those who do. If Ed had come to Hogwarts anytime before volume 11 (in my opinion), he wouldn't have been able to see thestrals. Why? Because while he did see his other die at a young age, he thought he could bring her back to life. And even after that, he didn't truly accept that there was no way to bring her back until he dug up what he thought was his mother and found it wasn't. It's the same with Teacher and Al. They were blaming themselves, thinking that if something hadn't gone wrong, they could have succeeded, and therefore didn't truly accept their deaths. Since you need to accept death in order to see thestrals, they wouldn't have been able to.**

**Also, thanks for all the reviews! They give me strength~!**


	10. Vincula

**If I was as much of a genius as Arakawa-sensei and J.K. Rowling, I'd probably already be making hundreds of dollars. As it is, I'm eating peanut butter from the can.**

**Okay, before you attack me for such a late update, lemme explain. A) was being dumb, completely ruining the formatting and rendering any chapter I uploaded illegible. B) Both my rats, who I raised from birth and was extremely close to, died in very short succession, and it's been hard trying to deal with that. This chapter is dedicated to the two of them, Rocky and Harry.**

**With that, please enjoy the (albeit late) chapter.**

* * *

><p>Edward Elric was <em>pissed.<em>

The bastard Colonel was inside, nice and dry and warm, while he was stuck on a freezing cold pitch, squinting through sheets of rain to try and see the figures on broomsticks several stories up. He could barely see the shapes of people at all, much less identify the Potter kid he was supposed to be protecting.

_How the hell am I supposed to protect the kid from a serial killer if I can't even see him? _He thought angrily, pulling the edges of his coat closer to try and protect himself from the rain and cold.

It had been simple enough when Dumbledore suggested it; Harry was being targeted by a killer, and they were to keep an eye on him. Simple. Ed was still trying to wrap his head around the kid's back story, what with the whole Voldywhore guy trying to kill him when he was a baby, then again when he was eleven, then again last year.

Heck, even Ed hadn't had someone try to kill him until he was fourteen (unless, of course, you counted Winry and her wrench)!

Still grumbling darkly to himself, he looked up, trying to figure out which kid on a stick was which—

And then he felt as though someone doused his insides with ice water. Ed shuddered, feeling so cold, so unnaturally cold…

_Just like on the train._

Then he saw them, hundreds of the cloaked things, all flooding the pitch.

"—_your mother's condition—incurable—"_

"_You remember the law of Equivalent Exchange, don't you Alchemist?"_

_A thing in the center of the transmutation circle, reaching reaching toward him—_

"_Al? ALPHONSE! ALPHONSE!"_

Someone was screaming.

"…_you can even have my heart."_

"_It's too bad you couldn't put me back together too."_

"_Big…brother…wanna play…wanna play…"_

A figure falling from a broom, people screaming…

"_Promise you won't touch my brother—"_

Ed pushed himself to his feet, jumping onto the pitch. He landed, not with his usual catlike grace but on his side, probably breaking his human leg in the process.

He clapped his hands together—

"_Welcome, my dear human sacrifices,"_

-And hit the ground, a hand forming from the dirt and reaching up to catch the falling figure.

"_Big brother…win."_

And then his head hit the ground, and the cloaked figures came closer and closer.

oOoOoOoOo

"I thought he was dead for sure."

"His glasses didn't even break, look."

"If Professor Hawkeye hadn't done that magic-"

"Bloody brilliant magic, I didn't even see him pull his wand—"

Roy tuned out the whispers of the students, all crowded around one bed. That uptight nurse was probably going to have a conniption fit once she saw the group, all covered in mud, but that wasn't his problem.

No, he was more concerned with the fact that two of his subordinates were lying in hospital beds, and all he could do was sit between them, waiting for them to wake up.

There was something wrong, so wrong, with Fullmetal lying still and pale in a bed, instead of ranting or researching or _something. _The image just didn't compute in his mind.

Ed let out a low moan and shifted, cold sweat on his face. Roy, inexplicably, wanted to reach out and comfort the boy.

He knew it was dumb. Ed was an adult now, and had saved Amestris. "The Hero of the People," he was called. Ed had no need of a father, and he certainly didn't want one. There was no point in attempting to reach out to a kid like Ed. He would just have to keep doing what he was doing, protecting Ed from the shadows, in ways Ed wouldn't know.

_Because I'm doing such a great job of it so far, _he thought, snorting.

And then there was Riza.

He had watched her life bleed out of her, he had watched her as she was strangled, and he had watched her will to live leave her.

But there was always something to fight, something to burn, some way to make it better. That gold-toothed doctor, the fat homunculus, that woman…

This time, the only thing he could do was wait for her to wake up.

He took her hand (it's too cold) and sat, listening to Fullmetal's labored breathing, and did just that.

Not that he liked it at all.

oOoOoOoOo

"Dumbledore was really angry," Hermione explained once the team had left, whispering in a quaking voice. "I've never seen him like that before."

"But what _happened?" _Harry asked, looking from her to Ron. "I mean, I know I fell from my broom—I could figure that bit out for myself. But Professor Hawkeye?"

"I don't really know what happened," Hermione said, fiddling with her fingers. "I mean, you were falling, and everyone…"

"Everyone thought you were gonna…you know," Ron said, looking plenty shaken himself. "But Professor Hawkeye—the guy one—jumped onto the field when you fell and did some sort of magic thing-"

"It was transfiguration, Ronald, you should know your terms by now."

"Yeah, that, and this big hand came up from the ground and caught you. Then all the dementors surrounded Hawkeye, but Dumbledore came onto the field after that."

"He shot some silvery stuff out of his wand, then conjured stretchers for you and Professor Hawkeye," Hermione finished. "I don't think the professor's woken up yet. Madam Pomfrey said he broke his leg."

Harry leaned back in his bed, trying not to think of what the dementors had forced into his mind. Deciding changing the subject was his best bet, he asked "Did someone get my Nimbus?"

Ron and Hermione looked at each other, and Harry knew he wasn't going to like the answer.

oOoOoOoOo

Madam Pomfrey sat in a chair, directly across from Professor Mustang and between the two beds on which Professor Hawkeye and her son lay. The boy, Edward, had been very vocal on his desire to not remain in the Hospital Wing after he'd woken, but she had insisted he stay at least overnight.

He was very unhappy about that.

But, now was not the time. She turned to face Professor Hawkeye, focusing on her the sort of look normally reserved for misbehaving students.

"You've been downplaying your symptoms, Professor."

"In my experience, revealing symptoms to others simply restricts my duties, Madam," the professor replied, no shame in her amber eyes.

"You could endanger your life that way."

"My life has been in danger many times, and I'm still alive."

Madam Pomfrey blinked, then sighed.

"You won't back down, will you?"

"I've often found that pig-headedness is a trait to be proud of."

"Is she always like this?" Madam Pomfrey finally asked, turning to Professor Mustang. He smirked and nodded.

"Right, well, let's get down to business," she said, seeing this as a fight she couldn't win. Professor Mustang straightened up in the corner of her eye, and even Edward seemed to be listening more closely. "Professor Hawkeye, judging from my diagnostic spells, your organs are under attack."

"_What?" _

"It's not an illness," Madam Pomfrey continued, acting as though Professor Mustang hadn't interrupted. "It appears to be energy, directed inward. At the same time, you own energy is being drained, leading to your exhaustion. The energy has begun to harm your stomach, which explains the blood you coughed up earlier. It seems that you have minor internal bleeding in multiple places."

"But _why?" _Professor Mustang had stood up, looking like he was going to attack her if she didn't have some good answers.

"Professor Mustang, calm yourself," Madam Pomfrey replied. "At the moment, I know as much as you do."

"You know _nothing?"_

"Sir." Mustang stopped, apparently surprised at Professor Hawkeye's voice. She raised her eyebrow at him. He let out a long breath, sitting back down in his seat.

"So, what happens now?"

"Well, as everything is relatively minor at the moment, there's no need to be overly concerned." Madam Pomfrey continued, falling back into professional nurse mode. "You'll have to take a blood-replenishing potion at least once daily, and you will stay here in case of worsening symptoms, at which case you will notify me immediately. _Me, _Professor, not Professor Snape."

"Snape?" Mustang asked, looking confused.

"The greasy-haired, creepy guy who stays in the dungeon with the kids in green," Edward supplied from his bed. While not exactly polite, Madam Pomfrey decided not to comment. He was essentially correct, after all.

"You've been getting these from him, haven't you?" she asked instead, holding up an empty potion vial. "Wideeye Awaking potions."

"I needed to remain alert for my duties," Professor Hawkeye replied. "Professor Snape simply thought that coffee was inadequate."

"Be that as it may, professor, you are not to do this again. Attempt to do so again, and you will be tied to your bed. Understand?"

Hawkeye made a noise of agreement, though it was obvious she was not happy about it.

Harry, several beds down, remained blissfully ignorant thanks to privacy charms cast around the beds.

oOoOoOoOo

Harry sat in the Hospital Wing, fingering pieces of his broomstick. Madam Pomfrey had tried to throw it out several times, Harry refusing to let her do so each time.

"Was that important to you?"

He jumped, having forgotten that Professor Hawkeye, Ed's mom, was in the hospital wing as well. He didn't know why she was in there—Hermione had confided earlier, in a whisper, that nobody did—but he'd seen Madam Pomfrey giving her potions every hour and Professor Mustang had been in and out as well. Even Ed had stopped in once or twice, though never long enough for Harry to thank him or ask about his wandless magic.

"Y-yeah," he said awkwardly, looking down. "It was…it was a gift."

"Could your parents buy you a new one?"

"Ah…no." Harry stared. "Er, Professor, you do know who I am, don't you?"

"Of course." She looked at him oddly. "You're Mr. Potter, aren't you?"

"Yeah." She must have noticed that he was still looking at her oddly, because she changed the subject.

"You took a rather nasty fall yesterday. Are you feeling better?"

"Much better. If Madam Pomfrey'd let me out, I'd be just fine."

"Well, she can be stubborn, can't she? I've seen that side of her myself." They stopped talking in unison, looking around to make sure aforementioned healer wasn't nearby. Harry returned to turning the broomstick bits over in his fingers, wondering how on earth he was going to play in the next match.

"Something's bothering you, isn't it, Mr. Potter?"

"No, not really."

"Yes, there is." Harry looked up, and she looked so gentle, and kind, and _motherly, _like she really wanted to help. He could tell her, about the Grim and how scared he was that he was actually going to die, and Sirius Black, and about hearing his mother screaming in his ears every time the dementors came near.

"It's really nothing," he said softly, sounding like he was lying even to himself.

"My door is always open," she said gently before frowning. "Well, my bed curtains anyway, until I get out of this wing."

oOoOoOoOo

Monday's Defense Against the Dark Arts helped raise Harry's spirits considerably. Hinkypunks, though deceptively harmless-looking, were apparently quite dangerous and at the same time, fascinating. Even Hermione enjoyed it, despite her disappointment at having finished the essay Snape had assigned earlier, when Lupin was absent, and finding out it wasn't needed.

"Wait a moment, Harry," Lupin called at the end of class. "I'd like a word."

Harry nodded to Ron and Hermione to go ahead, then walked up to Lupin's desk. The hinkypunk, which had been squelching itself against the tank earlier, quieted as Professor Lupin covered the cage with a sheet.

"I'm sorry about the match and your broomstick, Harry," Lupin started. "There's no chance of fixing it?"

"No, the tree smashed it completely." Harry sighed. "At least I wasn't on it this time."

Lupin's lip quirked upward. "Yes, I heard about your…exciting arrival to school last year."

"It was better than how I came to school this year."

"Were the dementors the reason you fell?"

"Yes." Harry swallowed, hesitating, but ended up saying what was on his mind. _"Why? _Why me? Why do they affect me like that? Am I just—"

"You're not weak," Lupin said, cutting him off. "Dementors…they are truly horrible creatures. One of the worst that roam the Earth, foul enough that even Muggles know when they're present, though they can't see them. What dementors do is they suck out every good thought, every happy memory, until you're left with nothing but your worst moments, and you see those again and again. Harry, your worst moments would make the strongest person fall off a broomstick. I would be surprised if you _didn't _pass out."

Harry blinked, not sure if he should treat that as a compliment or not, before he remembered something. "Professor, the alchemy teachers…they passed out too, on the train, didn't they? And for longer than I did. What does that mean?"

"Well…" Lupin sighed. "I don't know much about those teachers, Harry, but they must have seen horrors even worse than you."

"But…" Harry trailed off, keeping the question inside. _What could be worse than seeing your parents murdered?_

oOoOoOoOo

The next morning, Harry stared at the Marauder's Map in wide-eyed wonder.

_No wonder Fred and George rarely get caught, _he thought, staring at Dumbledore's dot pacing in the room and Snape's dot in the dungeons. There, in the Alchemy classroom, two dots stood at the front of the room, probably teaching lessons. One, near the blackboard, was labeled _Roy Mustang. _It was the other dot that gave Harry pause.

_Who is 'Edward Elric'?_

* * *

><p><strong>Hm...things are starting to move...<strong>

**Review? I accept and encourage criticism! **


	11. Malitia

**I...am just so, so sorry. My only excuses are international travel and writer's block. I am so sorry! Updates should speed up now that summer break is underway.**

* * *

><p>Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge eyed the grim, dank walls of Azkaban with distaste and unease, making sure to keep his shimmering wolverine patronus nearby. He would be nowhere near Azkaban if he had any other choice, but there were annual inspections there was no way for him to avoid, and now that there was an escaped criminal, they wanted him to inspect it <em>again.<em>

_If they could just hurry up and catch that blasted Black, the dementors could Kiss him, this mess would be over, and my job would be safe again._

"Minister, sir? We're at her cell."

"Yes, thank you Venneri," he said, waving away the young Azkaban warden. Her bobcat patronus snarled, chasing away the dementors surrounding the high-security cell. Fudge swallowed in revulsion before approaching the cell.

"Lestrange." There was no response from the cell. Fudge raised his voice, his patronus weaving nervously between his legs. "Lestrange!"

"You…" An eerie cackling came from the cell, quickly turning to shrieking laughter. "Come to say hello, minister? Ready to let me return to the Dark Lord?"

"I have some questions for you, Lestrange." The laughter faded, turning to a snarl.

"I will not betray the Dark Lord! I am his most loyal, his most faithful—"

"I came to ask about your cousin, not He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."

Silence rang through the cell.

"I know nothing of that blood-traitor. _Nothing." _

"Yes, the blood-traitor Black…who somehow managed what you, a faithful pureblood couldn't manage. Something He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named himself couldn't manage, in fact," Fudge added, hoping to goad her into revealing something.

"You dare compare—_YOU DARE COMPARE HIM TO THE DARK LORD!" _The figure of Bellatrix Lestrange slammed herself into the bars as she screeched, thrusting a hand through the bars and clawing at Fudge. He took a hasty step back, his wolverine crouching and snapping at her.

"Are you all right, sir?" the warden called.

"Fine," Fudge replied, eyeing the crazed woman in disgust. He'd pushed her too far, and it wasn't likely she'd give him any information today—if she had any information in the first place. Black had been estranged from his family at a young age, but he had hoped…

Unable to resist a parting shot as he turned to leave, he tossed a Daily Prophet through the bars.

"Here's the paper your cousin requested. I suppose you can gave it in his stead, hm?"

Her screech of anger followed him as he rejoined the warden.

oOoOoOoOo

"So you're saying that Professor Hawkeye…"

"Ed," Harry corrected automatically.

"Ed then, is not really Professor Hawkeye's son?" Hermione asked with a raised eyebrow. He, Hermione and Ron sat around the fire in the Gryffindor common room, several minutes after everyone else had gone to bed.

"Exactly. Hawkeye's not his real name, it's Elric. It's right here on the map, look." He pushed the map toward her, pointing to a spot in the tower next to Gryffindor Tower. _Edward Elric _was apparently resting in the main room of the tower, across from Professor Mustang's dot. "I've been checking the map, and Edward Elric's dot is wherever Ed is. It's gotta be him."

"But why would he use a fake name?" Ron asked, squinting at the map. "And wouldn't this mean Professor Hawkeye is in on this too?"

"I don't know…" Hermione leaned back, evidently deep in thought. "But think about it Harry, how could this get past Dumbledore? I mean, this is _Dumbledore _we're talking about, and security would be tight, especially with Black. The map has to be wrong."

"But…" Harry stopped suddenly, eyes widening in realization. "Hermione, what if he _works for Black?"_

"_What?" _

"Black wants to get to me, right? And he knows I'm at Hogwarts! So, I don't know, he got his Death Eater pals to sneak into Hogwarts to bring me to him!"

"Then Black could've got in himself!"

"But he's too well-known!" Harry refused to be stopped. "His face is everywhere, right? So he just gets his lesser-known friends to catch me for him instead."

"Harry, mate, think about what Hermione said," Ron interjected. "You're talking about _Dumbledore _ just not noticing Death Eaters waltzing in under his nose. That's like….I don't know…You-Know-Who wanting a body back so he can tap dance. Not gonna happen."

"Black tricked my parents to get them killed. Why couldn't he trick Dumbledore to kill me?"

"Harry, no offense…" Ron coughed awkwardly. "But I don't think your parents were quite at Dumbledore's level."

"The map's has to be wrong Harry…it has to be."

"But what if it's not?" Harry snapped, punching a cushion on an armchair. _"What if it's not?" _

"It doesn't mean that they're automatically evil…"

"Good people wouldn't just hide their identity," Ron pointed out. Hermione shot him a glare that clearly said _'Stop contradicting me and help me convince Harry,' _and Ron, quite wisely, shut up.

"So what am I supposed to do? Just waltz into next alchemy class and pretend to learn from people who might want me dead?"

"Harry, listen," Hermione placed a hand on his arm, trying to calm him down. "There's probably a reasonable explanation for this. I mean, he saved your life at the Quidditch game!"

Harry fell silent, deflating slightly at the logic of her argument. If Black wanted him dead that badly, an accidental fall from his broom would be the perfect way to end him.

"Even if they are Death Eaters and somehow managed to get past Dumbledore, they wouldn't do anything to you in a class where everyone's watching," Hermione pointed out. "Plus, people have been saying Professor Hawkeye—not Ed—has been in the hospital wing. If she's ill, that would mess up any plans they have, right?"

Harry raised an eyebrow at her. "You just want to make sure I don't talk you out of going to class tomorrow because you really want to find out about those transmutation circles."

Hermione flushed and looked down.

oOoOoOoOo

"There are hundreds of different alchemic symbols, used for different transmutations." Roy sketched out two basic transmutation circles with a practiced hand. "The circle on the left with curving lines is used to freeze water, while by contrast, the one on the right is used to convert sparks to flames. As you can see, it's lines are much sharper and straighter. Not all circles have such clear distinctions, however, especially once you get into more complex transmutations. For example, the same circle can be used to rust nails as can be used to undo the rusting process with the changing of only a few runes…"

Ed, meanwhile, was not listening to/assisting Roy at all. Instead, he was sketching notes in his notebook, occasionally muttering to himself or pulling a thick book from underneath the desk and flipping through it, only to growl in frustration and put it back, often darkly muttering a few words in a foreign language.

"And, since Professor Hawkeye is well-versed enough in transmutation circles that he doesn't even have to listen to me to know what I'm talking about, he'll be available in the library if you need any help with your homework tonight, so long as you can deal with his _short _temper."

"DID YOU JUST CALL ME TINY ENOUGH THAT SIDEWALK CRACKS LOOK LIKE CANYONS TO ME? I'M TALLER THAN WINRY NOW, DAMNIT!"

"And a _huge _accomplishment that must be."

"YOU BET YOUR ASS IT IS!"

"Professors," Malfoy interrupted, leaning back in his chair. "You see, I just don't understand one thing. What is the point of alchemy?"

"The point?" Ed asked blankly, as if he couldn't comprehend anyone questioning that.

"Well, anything you can do with alchemy you can do with magic much more easily," Malfoy pointed out. "After all, is alchemy even useful in battles? You have to take the time to draw circles and everything."

"What you say is true," Roy said, smiling widely in an attempt to distract from the slight hesitation between his words. "Alchemy has little application in this world today. However, it is a useful tool in learning about the history of magic, or how magic first began to be thought of. It also provides an easy link to non-magical chemistry, if anyone becomes interested in that. Some alchemical runes link closely to magical runes, as well. But overall, alchemy can be an excellent tool in helping to focus energy. You've noticed that we refuse to let you near circles, naturally," he said, as the students nodded along. "That is because, in the magical world, wands focus the energy for you. There is very little needed to do in order to practice spells in the way of focusing your energy, simply to push your energy toward the wand and visualize the spell's result. However in alchemy, the circle is more of your guide. You yourself must be able to focus your energy, determine how much is needed, and apply that energy. This level of control can take years, even decades to reach, and even longer in a witch or wizard since so much of the life was dependent on the wand to focus energy. Once the focus _is _achieved though, you may find that spellwork is much easier, learning spells comes faster, and overall concentration improves.

"But sir," a young Ravenclaw pointed out. "If the circle is a guide, nothing more…shouldn't it be possible to perform alchemy with no circle at all?"

"No." This time it was Ed who spoke up. "No good alchemist can perform alchemy with no transmutation circle or runes."

"Sorry, but it looks like we're out of time," Roy said when another Ravenclaw looked like she wanted to speak up. "See you all tomorrow."

oOoOoOoOo

Lyna Venneri stood at her post just outside the high-security cells of Azkaban, her patronus lying across her feet.

_Just one more hour, _she told herself, checking her watch. _Another hour and Fredrickson will be here and I can leave this bloody rock. _Even with the comforting glow of her patronus next to her and a good few feet away, the chill of the dementors still raised the hairs on her arms.

The screams and sobs of the prisoners didn't help much either.

Ten minutes later, she froze. Her bobcat patronus stood, a hiss bubbling in its throat.

Something felt terribly, terribly off.

"What's going on in there?" she shouted, her voice sounding much less intimidating than she'd hoped. "Who's causing trouble?"

Then the dementors _screamed, _and a horrid, horrid wave of _something _washed over the young warden, slamming her against the wall as the dementors fled around her and her patronus blew away like sand in the wind.

She crouched against the wall, chest heaving, as she tried to catch her breath and will away the sudden chill from so many dementors coming so close to her without a patronus to hold them at bay. She was terrified, absolutely terrified, and she didn't know why.

Then two things, sharp and thin as blades, thudded into the wall, each a hairsbreadth from her neck, and she had a very good reason.

"_I'M GOING TO KILL HIM!"_

oOoOoOoOo

"One of those girls is extremely clever, _Hagane no. _Almost up to your level, I'd say."

Ed basically ignored Mustang, his feet propped up on the teacher's desk as he scribbled in that notebook that followed him wherever he went. "Oh?"

"My little explanation didn't seem to satisfy her at all. If anything, she looks more suspicious."

"Mm."

Roy stopped in the process of erasing the blackboard, turning to stare at Ed. "Okay, I know something's up when you haven't swore at me at all."

"Working on something," Ed replied, not even looking up.

"That I can see," Roy replied dryly, returning to erasing the board. "Just tell me it's not another plan to create your demonic 'artwork' or blow something up, so I can visit Hawkeye with peace of mind."

"My art is cool!" Ed snapped, then sighed. "If you have to know, bastard, I'm close to a breakthrough to get us back to Amestris."

Roy blinked. "Really?"

"Yes, really. I _am _a prodigy, after all. Now shut up or I'll end up frying all of us during the transmutation."

"Don't get a swelled head, _Hagane no." _The two fell into silence for a few moments, save for the scratching of Ed's pen (he refused to use quills, instead relying on a pen he found in his pocket).

"_Hagane no." _

"Dammnit bastard, I _just _told you to shut up!"

"Just come look at this."

Ed groaned, shutting his notebook and walking over to where Mustang was standing at the chalkboard.

"What?" He looked up at the board, then stopped and turned to Mustang. "This wasn't you, was it?"

"Of course not!" he snapped. "I have _excellent _control of my alchemy."

On the board, where the transmutation circles had been sketched out, were the charred outlines of the circles themselves, burned into the chalkboard.

"In that case, what the _hell?" _Ed turned to Roy, blinking. "Wait, the hand that I transmuted when I saved the kid at that Quidditch game. What happened to it?"

"What do you mean what happened to it? It crumbled right after it caught Potter, apparently. Everyone figured you did that on purpose."

"The hand should've stayed there, I passed out before I could deconstruct it…" Ed trailed off, his eyes glazing over slightly as he thought in earnest. "Alchemy's just not stable here?" he mumbled, beginning to pace. "Dumblebeard mentioned something about magical energies in the air…adding variables? Circles without materials…they'll attempt to activate using the energies in the air, directing the energy inward when unable to activate! I have to test this…" he reach for extra parchment, already sketching circles and watching them closely.

Roy, meanwhile, had a look of growing horror on his face as he realized something very, very important.

"Oh God…" he muttered, sounding like he was choking. "Oh God…_Hawkeye!" _

oOoOoOoOo

Venneri stared into the face of Bellatrix Lestrange, the deranged murderer who's face happened to be mere inches from her own.

"_I'M GOING TO KILL HIM!" _

_What the bloody hell just happened, where are the dementors, where are the goddamn dementors, WHERE'S MY GODDAMN WAND? _Venneri thought desperately, her fingers scrabbling along Azkaban's damp stone floors, searching for her wand.

"I'm going to kill him, Miss warden. Just like this."

Venneri's hand landed on her wand handle, Bellatrix twisted her hand, the fingernails on either side of Venneri's neck bit into her throat, and Venneri choked on blood.


End file.
